IMAX Enhanced

[BLMN]

Waiting to see if Apple will update the TV 4k 3rd Gen to be able to do this, my receiver (Marantz) is IE capable.

[sapiendut]

No. That’s untrue. Currently there is no TV and receiver that can play lossy DTS:X which later be converted to the recognizable bitstream to the receiver or TV speakers. The IE label for those TVs are related in the sense that those TVs have a picture preset called IE which is basically the same as movie mode but with a little bit of noise reduction and sharpness added plus a slight push of the colour saturation.

The first TV that support lossy streaming DTS:X was supposed to be LG, but they have now dropped DTS support altogether.

[jeff BD]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

No. That’s untrue. Currently there is no TV and receiver that can play lossy DTS:X which later be converted to the recognizable bitstream to the receiver or TV speakers. The IE label for those TVs are related in the sense that those TVs have a picture preset called IE which is basically the same as movie mode but with a little bit of noise reduction and sharpness added plus a slight push of the colour saturation.

The first TV that support lossy streaming DTS:X was supposed to be LG, but they have now dropped DTS support altogether.

Theres already been articles published today of what tvs, avr etc you can use to play this new IMAX sound from Disney+.

I can assure you that they didnt release something that no one could use

[sapiendut]

We’ll see. If they really don’t need an upgraded chip them there should at least be updates on receiver to be able to get streaming DTS:X without conversion to PCM.

[jeff BD]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

We’ll see. If they really don’t need an upgraded chip them there should at least be updates on receiver to be able to get streaming DTS:X without conversion to PCM.

Im waiting for videos on Youtube with ppl that have got it going

[sapiendut]

If they can do it without conversion then that’s great. At CES2023 we were told that for streaming IE we need new equipments with a chip capable to do streaming lossy DTS

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by BLMN

Waiting to see if Apple will update the TV 4k 3rd Gen to be able to do this, my receiver (Marantz) is IE capable.

Apple's all-in with Dolby Vision+Atmos, including Dolby 3D on their new Vision Pro, so don't expect them to do any favors for DTS/IMAX.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

IMAX Enhanced is a bunch of BS. Why jump through hoops for nothing?

Are you all that afraid of the black bars?

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

If they can do it without conversion then that’s great. At CES2023 we were told that for streaming IE we need new equipments with a chip capable to do streaming lossy DTS

LOL, yet another DTS "innovation" that costs another hardware upgrade? And if you're in the market for IMAX Enhanced that means dropping another $2 to 3 thousand on a new receiver/pre-amp. DD+ Atmos was available at launch of the format in 2016. No additional hardware needed if your receiver already decoded Atmos for streaming apps.

[jeff BD]

So i was able to get this this going. Using the Disney+ app on my Hisense U8K which IE certified along with my RZ50. Upon playing a movie you get a pop up that says would you like to listen in DTS:X/Imax? I clicked yes and Now a DTS:X logo appears next to the Atmos logo and it in fact plays in the DTS:X...

The downside is I was not impressed at all. The sound is lower and less dynamic than the atmos version. Like WTH is this? lol

[jeff BD]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

IMAX Enhanced is a bunch of BS. Why jump through hoops for nothing?

Are you all that afraid of the black bars?

what hoops are you jumping thru? The Imax enhanced video is pretty much there for everyone and is the default way to watch them on the app.

The current discussion is on the audio side of things

[Jodi]

Originally Posted by jeff BD

So i was able to get this this going. Using the Disney+ app on my Hisense U8K which IE certified along with my RZ50. Upon playing a movie you get a pop up that says would you like to listen in DTS:X/Imax? I clicked yes and Now a DTS:X logo appears next to the Atmos logo and it in fact plays in the DTS:X...

The downside is I was not impressed at all. The sound is lower and less dynamic than the atmos version. Like WTH is this? lol

Lossy is lossy. If it were truly uncompressed, lossless 24-bit audio it might run circles around Dolby Atmos.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jodi

Lossy is lossy. If it were truly uncompressed, lossless 24-bit audio it might run circles around Dolby Atmos.

Problem is DTS has always had problems with going lower bitrate with their codecs. If they don't have massive amounts of data they cut corners. 768kbps DTS started filtering frequencies above 16kHz. DTS:X ended up fixing their output to 7.1.4 rather than being a true object-oriented sound system. DTS:X HD-HR required a firmware update, and then - when faced with Dolby AC-4 - DTS dropped out of consideration for the ATSC 3.0 audio codec race.

I'm just waiting to see what bitrate this version runs at.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Jodi

Lossy is lossy. If it were truly uncompressed, lossless 24-bit audio it might run circles around Dolby Atmos.

On a 7.1.4 immersive home audio setup, there is really zero discernable difference between Dolby Atmos and DTS: X, given that DTS:X maxes out at 7.1.4. It's all in the mix, not the format. The only difference would be if one was lossy and the other losslessly compressed. Then it would all come down to the effect of the compression on the soundtrack.

With an Atmos track encoded at more than 7.1.4, then the differences start to become apparent.

[lgans316]

Yep Atmos is more flexible than DTS:X as a format.

Btw my Sony 77A80J OLED can pass LieMax Enhanced DTS but only few AVRs can decode it

Having said that this whole IMAX Enhanced DTS is a farce. The only good thing about IMAX Enhanced is expanded aspect ratio that does benefit certain movies for sure.

Following movies on Bravia Core are proper IMAX Enhanced:

Spiderman Far From Home (switching aspect ratio)
Spiderman No Way Home (1.90:1 throughout)
Uncharted (switching aspect ratio)

[Tok]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

No. That’s untrue. Currently there is no TV and receiver that can play lossy DTS:X which later be converted to the recognizable bitstream to the receiver or TV speakers. The IE label for those TVs are related in the sense that those TVs have a picture preset called IE which is basically the same as movie mode but with a little bit of noise reduction and sharpness added plus a slight push of the colour saturation.

The first TV that support lossy streaming DTS:X was supposed to be LG, but they have now dropped DTS support altogether.

This whole thing with IMAX Enhanced with the special formatted dts:X track to turn on a flag so one’s AVR reads ‘IMAX Enhanced’ is ridiculous. Nothing special about it compared to other object based tracks except a fixed center height object that our equipment doesn’t have a dedicated speaker for. they could have done the same thing in an Atmos or standard dts:X track without locking it to an additional licensing partner. IMAX Enhaced is a joke. From a video perspective it’s nothing more than full screen for 16:9 displays.

No one is releasing discs with it and if wasn’t for Disney+ and Sony’s Pictures Core service the format is basically as dead as Auro-3D content in NA.

IMAX Enhanced’s tagline should be ‘using your FOMO against you by locking something every other modern audio and video format could do behind another licensing agreement’

[Tok]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

On a 7.1.4 immersive home audio setup, there is really zero discernable difference between Dolby Atmos and DTS: X, given that DTS:X maxes out at 7.1.4. It's all in the mix, not the format. The only difference would be if one was lossy and the other losslessly compressed. Then it would all come down to the effect of the compression on the soundtrack.

With an Atmos track encoded at more than 7.1.4, then the differences start to become apparent.

My understanding of dts:x being locked at 7.1.4 is more of a hardware issue. A dts:X track can be expanded beyond 7.1.4 just like Atmos but the original dts:x decoder couldn’t go beyond 7.1.4. Newer AVRs and processors like my AV10 support dts:X Pro. If a dts:X track is mixed with objects that aren’t locked to locations like Disney’s lazy 7.1.4 Atmos mixes then it can take advantage of speakers in a system beyond 7.1.4.

Again the limit was more of a hardware/firmware limitation that was corrected with dts:X Pro but reality is very few go beyond 7.1.4. My AV10 can do 15.4 but I’ve got limited space so 7.2.4 is my current speaker configuration.

But this is just another example of dts being several years behind Dolby. With Dolby Digital Plus being the defacto standard on streaming I don’t see dts or its IMAX Enhanced variant ever being more than a novelty.

[LexInHD]

I would be fine if DTS went away entirely and Dolby Digital and TrueHD fully supplanted it. It really has no place in the home and professional ecosystems at this point, with few cinemas packing DTS decoders these days and Dolby audio being used pretty much everywhere in home usage, except for BDs and UHD-BDs where DTS is the primary audio option. Every piece of A/V hardware from TVs to AVRs has full Dolby Digital 5.1 support and DTS became a partially supported codec when the shift from DVD to BD happened, with a lot of BD players and soundbars only supporting DTS 2.0 and not 5.1 or higher.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Tok

My understanding of dts:x being locked at 7.1.4 is more of a hardware issue. A dts:X track can be expanded beyond 7.1.4 just like Atmos but the original dts:x decoder couldn’t go beyond 7.1.4. Newer AVRs and processors like my AV10 support dts:X Pro. If a dts:X track is mixed with objects that aren’t locked to locations like Disney’s lazy 7.1.4 Atmos mixes then it can take advantage of speakers in a system beyond 7.1.4.

Again the limit was more of a hardware/firmware limitation that was corrected with dts:X Pro but reality is very few go beyond 7.1.4. My AV10 can do 15.4 but I’ve got limited space so 7.2.4 is my current speaker configuration.

But this is just another example of dts being several years behind Dolby. With Dolby Digital Plus being the defacto standard on streaming I don’t see dts or its IMAX Enhanced variant ever being more than a novelty.

DTS: X used to have a 7.1.4 bed "core" plus the option of a few add-on 3D pannable objects. This was apparent with the first WellGo Blu-ray discs with DTS: X. That was at the BEGINNING of the DTS: X home format. Then they had trouble with those 3D objects being rendered out. Apparently, they never got it fixed in time.

DTS, the company, then told the industry to use the 7.1.4 core only and any expansion would occur with upmixing. That's where DTS: X Pro comes in. It's a matrix decoder used to expand the 7.1.4 core to come out of more speakers, like Neural: X on steroids. The track is still 7.1.4.

DTS was behind the Eight Ball with Dolby already having a working home version of their theatrical Atmos format, so they rushed a half baked product to market. The rest is history.

On the flipside, their theatrical DTS: X format uses a different process altogether with working 3D objects. The problem was that it would have made the tracks too large to fit on a standard Blu-ray. Dolby had the same issue with their theatrical Atmos format. If we had had a consumer media format with enough storage capacity, then we could have had commercial grade immersive audio for the home.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

LOL, yet another DTS "innovation" that costs another hardware upgrade? And if you're in the market for IMAX Enhanced that means dropping another $2 to 3 thousand on a new receiver/pre-amp. DD+ Atmos was available at launch of the format in 2016. No additional hardware needed if your receiver already decoded Atmos for streaming apps.

100% this !!!

I’m not spending extra money for lossy codec with lack of content.